Royal Roundup: Carli Lloyd to hang up her boots after a 23 year career

It’s the end of an era. USWNT (and NWSL) veteran player Carli Lloyd has announced that this will be her last season playing professional soccer. She retires as the 2nd-most capped player in the history of Women’s International Soccer with 312 appearances over 17 years, and 128 international goals for the US, fourth on the USWNT all-time list. She leaves as one of the top women to ever wear the US jersey. Her professional career spans 23 years with 11 teams, and will end with NY/NJ Gotham FC (formerly Sky Blue FC) where she has played since 2018.

[Concacaf][FRS][SBI][SSFC][MiaHerald][SocWire][TheScore][WaPo]

REAL SALT LAKE / UTAH

• [MLS] Bobby Wood interviews by MLS Extra time.
• [YT] Charlie Davies on MLS Instant Replay agrees that Austin FC should have been down 2 men after Bobby Wood tackle.
• [AFC] Austin FC defender Julio Cascante’s red card suspension and fine from last week’s RSL game has been overturned by independent review panel.

MLS / USL / NWSL

• [FBItalia] Andrea Pirlo doesn’t rule out returning to MLS as a coach.
• [MLS] One takeaway for every team (from last weekend’s games).
• [Goal][90Min] Three Vancouver Whitecaps academy team players were assaulted in a racially motivated attack on Saturday night. One is in the hospital after being stabbed.
• [USLC] MLS vet Darren Mattocks has signed with Phoenix Rising.
• [CFire] Chicago Fire owner buys Swiss Super League club FC Lugano.
• [USLW] North Carolina based Wake FC announced as expansion club for inaugural USL-W.
• [SSD] USL-C’s Austin Bold is looking at relocating to avoid competition with Austin FC.

USA

• [FRS][ESPN] The USWNT has announced it will play 4 additional games in the next two months. Two vs Paraguay in September, and the final two vs South Korea in October. These will be retiring Carli Lloyd’s final tour with the US team.
• [TheScore] USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter expected to name at least 26 players to World Cup qualifying squad next week.
• [CBS] Former US keeper Hope Solo accused Megan Rapinoe of ‘bullying’ other players into taking a knee during the national anthem, but her timeline contains flaws.

INTERNATIONAL

• [USAT] Real Madrid’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti said they will not pursue signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus.
• [USSP] Barcelona president Joan Laporta reported the team’s debt is $1.6 billion, with 106% of that spent on player salaries.

Photo by LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images